To stack flawlessly flat bags with handles, it is customary to fold over the handle parts, which project beyond the opening edges of the bags, onto the side walls of the bags, so that no parts of the handles protrude beyond the opening edges of the bags. Those parts of the handle that were folded back so as to lie flat on the bag do not interfere with the stacking of the bags. This is because the bags are usually provided with bottoms that are folded into the plane of the bag so that the multilayered floor region is compensated for by the layers of handles. Thus an essentially flat stack of bags can be produced.
German reference DE 195 12 719 A1 discloses a process of the type described, where handles are cemented on the bags. The handles are folded in such a manner that their portions, which project beyond the opening edge of the bag, are folded over onto the leg segments of the handles that are intended for cementing and are affixed to the bag with adhesive spots.
To produce bags according to the existing process, however, relatively complicated device is required. To cement the handles on continuously conveyed bags, a handle affixing drum is required. A fold-over rod, which can be moved, for example, parallel to the drum's circumference, and whose circumferential velocity is greater than that of the handle affixing drum, grasps the segments of the handle used for attachment and folds them over toward a front bend line. Then the attachment segments, which are folded over toward the front of the bag by 180 degrees, are cemented on the continuously conveyed bag in a cementing section. The fold-over rod retracts just before reaching the cementing section. The handles are prevented from springing up by previously fastening the attachment segments together with the handle by means of applied bonding spots. One drawback of the existing device is the fold-over rod, which swings back and forth and which prevents higher machine speeds since the fold-over rod reverses its direction.